Tug-releasing device for whiffletrees.



APPLICATION TILED APR.23. I908.

Patented May 4, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

OLE 0. FENWALL, or BROOTEN, MINNESOTA.

TUG-RELE ASING DE VICE FOR WHIFFLETREES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1909.

Application filed April 23, 1908. Serial No. 428,855.

To all/whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLE O. FENWALL, a subject of the King of Norway,residing at Brooten, in the county of Stearns and State of Minnesota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in 'I'ug-ReleasingDevices for Whiffletrees; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention has for its object to provide a simple and eflicient tugreleasing device for whiflietrees and to this end, it consists of thenovel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described anddefined in the claims.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a simple and eihcient meansfor releasing a horse or horses from a vehicle when the driver has lostcontrol thereof, so as to thereby prevent serious accidents due torunaways.

It also has for its object to accomplish this result without doing anydamage to the horses released.

Horse releasing devices, hitherto provided, have usually uncoupled thewhiffletree from the vehicle, and when this is done, the horse releasedis liable to do itself very great damage by kicking against the releasedwhiffletree or the part of the vehicle left coupled to the horse.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention, likecharacters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the (.lrawings; Figure 1 is a plan view, with some partsbroken away, illustrating my invention applied to an ordinary wagon.Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1, some partsbeing broken away and some parts being sectioned.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Figs. 1 and 2, someparts being broken away. Fig. 4 is a front elevation showing one of thewhifiletrees removed from working position. 'Fig. 5 is a horizontalsection ta en on the line 90 x of Fig. l, some parts being left in full;and Fig. 6 is a view corresponding to Fig. 5, but showing the ivotedlovers of the whiflletree turned from t ieir operative into inoperativepositions.

Of the parts of the wagon, the numeral 1 indicates the running gear, thenumeral 2 the'box and the numeral 3 the pole of a wagon of standardconstruction. In the application of my invention to a wagon having apole a two-horse equalizing beam 4 is pivotally connected to the pole 3in the usual or any suitable way, but the said pole is preferablyprovided with a rigidly secured metal strap 5 that overlies theintermediate portion of said equalizing beam 4 and is provided with araised rear end extension 5, to which and the rear end of the pole 3 anupright standard 6 is rigidly secured just forward of the front end ofthe wagon box 2, for a purpose which will presently appear.

The whiflietrees are each preferably constructed as follows: The bodies7 are made up of vertically spaced parallel bars rigidly connected attheir central portions by spacing bodies 7 best shown in section inFigs. 5 and 6. Working between the end portions of the said whiflletreeare levers 8 pivotally connected thereto, as shown, by nutted bolts 9.At their short ends the levers 8 are provided with tug-engaging hooks10, and at their reduced long ends they are provided with lock notches11. The bolts 9 have square sections that engage the lovers 8 so thatthey are caused to turn therewith, and the said levers are put understrain to move from their normal positions, shown in Fig. 5, into theirinoperative positions, shown in Fig. 6, by torsional s )rings 12anchored at their upper ends to t 10 said bolts 9 and at their lowerends to the body of the whifliletree. In the central )ortion of eachwhiffletree a lock wheel or risk 13 is rotatively mounted. These lookwheels are revided with releasing notches 14 and cam is rigidly securedto the forward end of a short shaft or trunnion 15. At'theirlongitudinal centers the bodies of the whifl le-trees are pivotallyconnected to the ends of the equalizing beam 4 by means of bolts orpintles 16.

Located arallel with but at the rear of the equalizing earn 4 is asecond beam 17 that is centrally pivoted to the metal strap by a bolt18. The short shafts 19 are loosely journaled in the outer ends of thebeam 17, and these, at their forward ends, are pivotally conneeted tothe rear ends of the short shafts or trunnions 15. At their rear ends,the shafts 19 are provided with upwardly extended crank arms 19 that areconnected to the downturned ends of a tie bar 20. The bar 20 issufficiently flexible to permit oscillatory movement of the equalizingbar 4 and the beam 17. .Atits central portion the tie 1 What I claim is:

bar 20 is rigidly secured to an upright hand bar 21. The hand bar 21 isadapted to be detachably secured or locked to the fixed upright 6 by anysuitable means, but is preferably thus secured by a bolt 22 having aflat head at one end and a split key 23 at its other end. Then the flathead of the bolt 22 is turned into a vertical position it is adapted tobe inserted through a vertical slot 2'4 of the fixed upright 6 and, whenit is turned crosswise of said slot, as shown in Fig. 3, it serves tolock the hand bar 21 to the said upright.

When all of the parts are in operative posi-tions, as best shown inFigs. 1, 2, i and 5, the lock disks or wheels 13 engage the notches 11in the ends of the hook-equipped levers 8 and thereby lock the saidlevers in their operative positions with the hooks turned backward, asbest shown in Fig. 5.

When it is desired to release the tugs and allow the horses torun clearof the wagon it is first necessary to turn the lock bolt 22 so as touncouplethe hand bar 21 from the fixed. upright 6. This being done, thesaid hand bar should be moved toward the left in respect to Figs. 1 and2, so as to move certain of the notches 14 with the lock disks 13 intoalinement with the inner ends of the levers 8, and this will release thesaid levers and permit the same to make nearly a com pleterotation,to-wit, to move from the po sition shown in Fig. 5- into the positionshown in Fig. 6. The levers in making this movement under forward strainof the tugs, cause the hooks 10 to release the tugs, thereby, of course,releasing the horses from the vehicle. The horses thus released will notbe coupled to any part of the vehicle, and, hence are of course in nodanger of being hurt by the loose tugs.

The device above described, while extremely simple and of small cost, ishighly efficient for the purposes had in view. It has an obviousimportance as a means for preventing accidents when control of a horseor horses is lost by the driver.

1. A whiifietree provided with levers mounted on approximately verticalpivots and having notched ends and tug engaging hooks, a notched lockdisk rotatively mounten in the central portion of the body of saidwhifiietree, on an approximately horizontal axis, the body'portion ofsaid lock disk being engageable with the notches of the inturned ends ofsaid levers to lock the same in operative positions, and the notches ofsaid disk serving to release the said levers, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination with an equalizing beam, of a pair of whifidetreespivotally' con=- nected thereto, and provided with tug engaging leversmounted on approximately vertical )ivots and having notched ends,notched lock disks rotatively mounted on approximately horizontal axesinthe body ortions of the whiffletrees and operative to lock the notchedinturnedends of said levers in operative positions, and the notches ofsaid disks serving torelease said levers, and a connection for rotatingsaid lock disks to simultaneously release the levers of said twowhifiletrees, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a wagon, of beams 4 and 17 pivotally connectedto the pole thereof, whifiletrees pivoted to the ends of said beam 4,each whiffietree having a pair of pivoted tug engaging levers, a notchedlock disk applied to eachwhiffletree for locking and releasing saidlevers, a jointed shaft carried by said beam 17' and connected to therespective lock disks, said shaft-s having crank arms at their rearends, a tie bar connecting said crank arms, a hand bar secured to saidtie bar, an upright carried by said pole, and means for locking saidhandbar to said upright and for releasing the same, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OLE O. FENWALL. lVitnesses M. F. OLEINS, CARL KNUTSON.

